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Prostate cancer and me - Rashid's story

Rashid was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago, he’s had radiotherapy and is currently on hormone therapy. His treatment has made him feel tired a lot, but Get back on track has helped him plan his time so he can still do the things he wants to.

Here's his story

"I couldn’t do as much, and simple tasks took longer than they used to. I rang Prostate Cancer UK and started Get back on track, the nurse was very nice and talked to me about my tiredness. It’s reassuring to have someone on the end of the phone, and it was very useful. It allowed me to have a weekly plan, and I regularly found that I achieved what I wanted to in a week. You give the fatigue a score, and over the 10-week course, the score came down.

"I still feel tired, and finding the motivation to get out and do things depends on the day, and if I’ve had a good nights sleep – that’s really important. I try to get to bed early and wake up early; if you wake up early, you have time to rest before getting on with the day. I find I can do a lot – I play croquet in the summer, and I play bridge. I’ve started a German class, and I go to a painting class.

"My advice to anyone dealing with fatigue is: when you do things, for example if you’re doing some work in the garden, don’t do it in one continuous go. Split it into sessions. So you do 15 minutes and rest, 15 minutes and rest, and spread out your tasks throughout the day. And don’t sit down in front of the telly! I sit down for 15 minutes then stand up for 5. If I sit down for too long, I don’t want to get out of the chair. Especially if it’s a comfortable chair!"